Women have been using cannabis for their sexual health and pain relief for centuries. The plant has been used for relief and treatment for endometriosis, periods, painful sex, low libido, as well as fatigue, nausea, inflammation, and mental health issues that are related to these conditions. Yet, there are still so many questions out there and research to be done. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions and my perspective.
Q: Can I use medical cannabis while taking prescription psychiatric medications?
This is probably the most common question my women patients ask me. The answer is YES. but that question is usually followed by something like:
Q: I have so many side effects (insomnia, low libido) from these prescriptions, can medical cannabis also help with these?
Again, the answer is YES, but one major challenge for anyone looking to incorporate cannabis and CBD into their health routines is finding reliable, medically-responsible guidance to help you use the plant. Most doctors don’t know much about cannabis meds, so they may not know that they can make the effects of certain psychiatric meds more powerful. You should also know that 1 out of 4 women in America now takes a psychiatric medication, compared with 1 in 7 men. Women are nearly twice as likely to receive a diagnosis of depression or anxiety disorder than men.
Pharmaceuticals improve the lives of many women. But for others, they aren’t necessary or can cause side effects as bad as the underlying condition. The increase in prescriptions for psychiatric medications, often by doctors in other specialties, is creating a generation of overly medicated women. It makes me wonder if women are making decisions based on sound medicine or if they’re responding to peer pressure or advertising. I mean right now, antidepressants are being used in the clinical management of anxiety disorders, chronic pain, and even menopausal hot flashes. That’s insane.
Also by writing a prescription for every individual symptom, some basic connections are being overlooked. For example, more than 90% of depressed patients complain about difficulties in falling asleep, sleep disruption or early morning awakenings. Sleep disruption and depression are closely linked. Three-quarters of depressed patients also suffer from insomnia symptoms but one pill for every symptom obfuscates these obvious links.
Women as a group know they are being overmedicated and are trying to find ways to wean themselves off. In 2018, the cannabis delivery service Eaze reported that the number of women buying cannabis products from them almost doubled in 2018, increasing sales by 92 percent. According to BDS Analytics, women now make up 38 percent of all cannabis consumers.
In 2018, the cannabis delivery service Eaze reported that the number of women buying cannabis products from them almost doubled in 2018, increasing sales by 92 percent.
Q: What other sexual health conditions are women using cannabis and CBD for?
The top reasons are disrupted sleep, vaginal pain during sex and low libido. Let’s look at sex, since it’s important. Sex involves a complex set of physical, mental, and emotional reactions that can be positively influenced by cannabis or CBD. Most prescription antidepressants are part of a drug family called SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). By raising levels of serotonin in the body, the drug increases feelings of calm and lowers anxiety. Sounds great but that same sense of calm and stability can also lower libido.
Cannabis works in different, more holistic ways. It tends to promote the following, all of which could enhance your sex life:
- Increased relaxation
- Reduced anxiety
- Lowered inhibitions
- Increased hormone production
- Increased sexual arousal
- Increased sensitivity in your erogenous zones
- Enhanced creativity
Remember, your endocannabinoid system, the neurotransmitter system that cannabis interacts with, interfaces with all of the other systems in your body. It regulates movement, pain sensation, and immune responses, plus mental functions, like perception, mood, and memory.
It also regulates hormones related to stress, eating, sleeping, relaxing, exercise, desire and sex. It plays a role in regulating our hormones when we’re pregnant, giving birth, and nursing.
Q: How does this affect a woman’s sex life?
Sex is a complicated set of physical, emotional and sensory experiences that cannot be aligned by taking one pill. Here are some of health issues that might get in the way of a satisfying sex life.
1) Difficult and/or irregular periods can plague women with painful cramping, bloating, spasmodic pelvic muscles, and tense muscles in the abdomen and pelvic floor.
2) Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disease caused by tissue that lines the uterus growing outside the uterine cavity onto other organs in the pelvis. This can cause a variety of symptoms including chronic pelvic pain, infertility, and pain during menstruation or intercourse. These symptoms may contribute to anxiety, depression, loss of work, and affect your quality of life. Current treatments for endometriosis — hormonal therapy and surgery — have a limited effect and can produce a slew of unwanted side effects.
3) Vulvodynia is a condition involving painful burning and irritation of the vulva. Sufferers experience chronic, unexplained pain in the area around the opening of the vagina. The condition can be so uncomfortable that some common activities such as sitting for long periods of time or having sex, can feel unbearable. Symptoms include burning and rawness in the genital area. It can even hurt to wipe after urinating.
4) Vaginismus is a condition involving muscle spasms in the pelvic floor. It can make it painful, difficult, or impossible to have sexual intercourse, to undergo a gynecological exam, or insert a tampon.
5) Interstitial cystitis can cause urinary frequency, urgency, recurring pain in genitals, back, abdomen. It can feel like you have a UTI all the time. Certain diets seems to have an effect on flare ups.
The point is: Any kind of disorder in the pelvic floor can have an impact on any of the pelvic functions. If you have endometriosis, interstitial cystitis or a bladder infection, this can cause terrible pain in your low back that can lead to sexual dysfunction. If you have pain in and around your vagina (vulvodynia, vaginismus) when the inflammation heats up, it can cause constant spasms, increase scarring of tissue, and decrease mobility, causing misalignment of your hips, sacrum, butt muscles, low back, etc. If it’s in constant spasm it can feel like a ton of bricks is weighing down your pelvis. Any little thing, even sitting on the toilet, can trigger the spasm. This can lead to sexual disorder, and the cycle of pain and immobility repeats again.
Q: OK, so how can I use cannabis to spark up my sex life?
People experience sexual health issues at different stages of their lives. Sexual issues for women commonly arise when they’re going through perimenopause or menopause or if they’re entering menopause prematurely from illness or hysterectomy. Vaginal pain during sex is another route to sexual dysfunction.
Cannabis can quickly reduce the sensation of pain when smoked, vaped, or ingested. Even more effective is a topical vaginal cream, spray, lubricant, or suppository containing a concentration of THC. Cannabis topicals or vaginal suppositories applied to the vagina and in and around the vaginal canal can offer near-immediate pain relief, increase blood flow to the area, and enhance sexual pleasure.
When applied to skin or vagina, these THC products will not affect your brain or make you high, although the lower region of your body may feel very relaxed. In my clinical practice, patients report increased sensitivity to touch and increased relaxation, both of which increase sexual response.
Lack of estrogen due to a disorder, hysterectomy, or after menopause, leads to an absence or end to healthy reproductive cell activity, and a host of other conditions that can make women uncomfortable and unhappy. Cannabis can be helpful in addressing conditions such as perimenopausal insomnia and hot flashes (it can decrease body temp in certain instances).
Q: Are CBD or CBD/THC infused sexual lubricants really any different from regular lubricants?
Women who have pain during sex should always use a lubricant, even if the pain begins to subside. Experiment with a variety to find one that suits you best.
Avoid: Propylene Glycol, as it tends to burn, and parabens. Parabens are used as preservatives in many cosmetic and personal hygiene products and mimic estrogen — but they may possibly contribute to the growth of breast tumors. Also, look for formulas that are safe to use with condoms.
Cannabis topicals or suppositories manufactured for vaginal use and applied to the vagina and in and around the vaginal canal can offer near-immediate pain relief, increase blood flow to the area, and enhance sexual pleasure.
There’s no clinical evidence but my patients report that cannabis-infused lubricants can help dilate blood vessels in your vagina, increasing blood flow and promoting elasticity. They may also provide relief from pain caused from friction on thinning vaginal walls. Essentially, cannabis sexual lubricants can help with dryness, vaginal friability (thinning), sensitive skin and pain with sex.
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